We slept in today which was a good idea because the forecast called for clouds and rain all day. There was a delicious breakfast buffet upstairs of Moroccan pancakes, whole grain bread, and croissants. After breakfast, we packed up and decided to brave the wind and clouds and walk to Paradise Beach 3 km to the south of the city. You could take a horse and buggy there but we didn't want to pay for it and had the time to walk. Our journey took us on a dirt/mud road along the coastal cliffs to Paradise Beach.
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| A stretch of road we got to walk on |
It was really scenic, despite the clouds, and I got to be a little boy and climb on some big rocks and jump around as we hiked. We got some stunning views, but, unfortunately, my camera was not charged, so it died 30 minutes into the walk. We got to the beach at 1 and it was low tide and sunny. Most surprisingly, we had the whole stretch of coast line to ourselves! We walked along the pristine beach, dipped our toes in the cold water, and drew some in the sand. We found a washed-up jellyfish which prompted my naturist tour guide alter ego Scuba Steve to give an anatomical discussion about jellyfish and to show them how you could pick it up. It seemed like Elle's Wyoming mind melted, but that might have just been her eyes glazing over as I got my nerd on at the beach. We stayed there for about an hour until a storm began to roll in from the ocean (Scuba Steve used Eagle Scout knowledge to predict and explain this and to also portend the storm movement based on wind patterns). Because of this, we scrambled up the cliff side and began to briskly walk back towards Assilah in the rain. It only rained on us for 15 minutes because the storm was blowing north, but the hike was a cold and wet one. Hungry and wet, we went to a restaurant for lunch, only desiring warm food. As a result, I got calamari again which didn't help me much because it wasn't that warm and didn't really fill me up either. So afterwards, Elle and I went and got these awesome ice cream treats. Though the price point was slightly steep (15 dh! What is this? It felt like a bread shortage in North Korea), they were the most incredible treats you could imagine. They were half ice cream bar (ICB) and half ice cream sandwich (ICS)! To properly gorge yourself, you first hold the ICS part while feasting on the ICB side. Once done, you flip it over to start on the end of the ICS half. We had them on Friday and just had to have them again on Saturday. It was a culinary revelation on par with other major breakthroughs from the past couple of centuries like salting your meat, putting cheese on an angus patty, or mashing tomatoes and naming the delicious result, ketchup.
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| Paradise Beach! |
We went back and bought our art just before the rain picked up again. We sat in a gallery and had tea while we waited for it to blow over. At 5:15, we went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff. Christina, the hostel owner, proved she was crazy by first not answering the door for 15 minutes while we stood in the rain, then forgetting that we had stored our stuff in her room, and lastly, despite living in Assilah for 5 years, not knowing where to grab a cab or the number to call to catch one. We showed up at a cab stand that we had remembered passing at 5:45, believing our train left at 6. There were no taxis in sight. Instead, a horse and buggy pulled up who said they could get us there in 10 minutes. Rather than just jump in, Marissa tried to BARGAIN the price down from 50 dh to 30 dh. Why she did this still eludes me, but we only paid 30 dh and made it to the train station in under 10 minutes. Fortunately, the train didn't leave until 6:15, but that horse ride would be the first of many strange occurrences on this journey home.
The train showed up 10 minutes late. As we soon found out, it was because it was more crowded than a JC Penney's on Black Friday. We pushed and shoved our way onto a car and settled down comfortably in the aisle. I punched a man in the face getting on but exercised my right as an American to not have to say sorry. We sat in the crowded aisle for 45 minutes, praying someone wouldn't pull the fire alarm before we got one seat. Elle and I shared this seat while Marissa continued to sit on the floor. Then we got another seat that Marissa and I shared so that Elle could do work. For the hour and a half ride, Marissa and I kept passing my phone back and forth and typing messages about the various characters around us (they transcended being just normal people into the realm of character-dom). When we switched trains, we pushed and shoved our way into an 8 person compartment. At this point, we also decided it was time to discretely finish off what was left of the vodka and that we had been keeping in a diet coke bottle. We took turns taking swigs and chasing the swigs with cheddar pringles and pistachios. We ended up having a phenomenal train ride back to Fes where we openly discussed intercourse in front of Moroccans and taught them about American rap music. Marissa and I also talked a lot in Spanish to one of our compartment mates who was from Lebanon. What can I say, I get pretty multicultural and multilingual when I drink!
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| Toes in the water |
We were back in Fes by 9:45 and home by 10. The whole way home, I debated and talked to the cabbie in Arabic (I was still feeling pretty "multicultural" at this point). I talked to my family some when I got home because they were all still up. After, I talked to my American family some too. Shout out to Sarah and her water polo team for winning their fourth consecutive state championship (her first!). Went to bed at like 11.
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